Hey guys! So a question that I get asked a lot is how I feel about
print-on-demand services like society6 and RedBubble; if I think that they are a
viable income source for artists, if I think they're worth putting your time into and
if I think that they can be used in lieu of having your own storefront or
website. This video is sponsored by my friends over at Skillshare, but for now
I thought I would just start off by explaining what I'm talking about when I
say print on demand services. So these are places, these are websites, where an
artist can upload their original artwork- high-quality scans of their work- and
then a shopper can buy a print of that artwork and the website or company will
do the printing and shipping and sending, so all the artist really has to do is
upload their work and then everything else is taken care of for them; even like
complaints or returns if that happens to come up. And as well as doing art prints,
these sites will also print on things like mugs, phone cases, soft furnishings...
shower curtains... all sorts. And there is more than just society6 and Redbubble,
although those are probably the most popular ones. I recently saw on 'Dragons
Den', there was a guy that had a card company where someone looking for a
greetings card could buy one that's not on the market and has been made by an
artist and then the artist that uploaded that artwork would get a commission on
that without having to set up their own card-printing business. So on paper, it's
a great way to take the business side out of being an artist. You get to do
what you do best which is create art and then the rest of it is all taken care of
by a middleman somewhere else. Also opening you up to the opportunity of
having your art printed on merch that you otherwise wouldn't have the access or
funds to do; as I said, with clothes, with mugs and anything else of that nature
that would just cost a bit too much to invest in right off the bat yourself. Now
I personally think the premise of these sites is great in that sense. I have
personally used society6 pretty much since I started selling my art. I no
longer I'm active on society6 just because they right now only pay out
through PayPal and I no longer use PayPal. So I have recently overhauled
everything over to Redbubble, I've got a lot of new stuff on there as well so if
you're interested in checking out some stuff that I don't have in my shop, some
stickers and things, I will leave the link to my Redbubble
below! (yay! gimme money please!)
But that's one of the areas that it's great for; I make my own prints but
I don't necessarily want to make prints for everything, I'm dipping my toe into
the world of making stickers and- rather than investing in all the
kits and things I would need to make stickers, or the cost of bulk buying a
load of stickers from an outsourced sticker maker- I can put the designs up
on this website and see if it's popular, see if it's something that
people want. And I say that it's one of the areas that this is great for because
I think as an artist or anyone that is pursuing a career in any kind of
creative endeavor, we all know that you cannot put all your eggs in one
basket. You cannot rely on just one source of income. So while these sites
are a great side hustle, they can't necessarily be your main source of
income. Now in the long run, once you do have the money to invest in making
things yourself, you are going to profit more from cutting out the middleman. That's
standard, that makes sense in any different industry. So like with me for
example, testing out stickers at the moment, right now- as I said- I'm just
dipping my toe in and seeing if it will work. I'm not losing anything which is
great. I haven't made any major investment in sticker-making gear but
if there is a profit to be made from it, if it's popular, then in the long run I'm
not making as much as I potentially could if I invest in doing all the steps
myself. Another downside of using these sites is that you cannot rely on them to
market you on their websites. There are tons of artists that use these sites and
it's very hard to reach the front page so you need to have your own marketing
strategies behind you, your own following that you can direct to that site and
link them directly to your profile on there. And even in that case, if you do
have a large following that you can direct there, you can't always guarantee
the stability of that website, of that company, you can't put all your trust in
them. Because the company could go bust, their website could go down, and if
that's your only stream of income, that leaves you completely snookered. And
another thing- that is more I guess a personal thing- I think it's nice to be
able to build a relationship with your customers. To have someone buying your
art, to have that in their homes, that's quite a personal thing and I really
appreciate being able to leave a personal note with each order or just
wrap it up nicely and even just seeing the same names popping up in my shop
here and there knowing that person is building their own little
collection. Like it it's not something that you can replace and I think it's a
really important part of being an artist and having your art out there. So to sum
it up, if you are looking to make a passive income from your art- by a
passive income I mean something where you do your initial piece of work and
then continue to profit from it into the future (i.e. do one drawing and upload it
on this website and then make money in dribs and drabs every time someone buys
a print of it)- I think that these sites are a great way to go. They are really an
invaluable resource for artists, it's a great place to start at least because
you are making a minimal to no investment at all and you're being given
a great opportunity to test your marketing skills, to test different
products and see which pieces of your art are more popular than others, which
bits will get more attention, what is a more viable option to make your own
prints of and sell, and what aren't people interested in. It's almost like
doing your own market research. Also if you do have a demand for your work in
print but you don't have the time or the money or the means to fulfill that right
now, it's a great way to get that demand met just as a starting point. Now if you
are interested in learning more about selling on society6 or any services like
this, if you want some advice on designs and designs that'll sell and just how it
all works behind the scenes I could really really really recommend a class
that I took on Skillshare quite a while back. It was actually listed within my
recommendations for 2018 in my 2018 art goals video. If you are interested in
more of the classes I recommended, they are in the comment under that video
which I'll have a linked below. But yeah it's basically taught by a
brilliant illustrator; Cat Coquillette I think her name was, and she just really
talks you through everything and anything you might want to know about
print on demand services and getting your work out there. I think the class is
actually called 'creating art that sells'. So if that is something you're
interested in, I would really recommend it. As I've said a million million times;
Skillshare is literally my like go-to one-stop shop for anything that I want
to learn about and they were kind enough to sponsor this video. So just to say a
little bit about them, I'm sure you know by now, it's
a website with a huge huge huge collection of classes on all sorts of
things they have up to 17,000 lessons on there now taught by
professionals, taught by experts, taught by people like me, and people like
you. Just anyone that knows anything and wants to really share that knowledge
with the people; it's like a hub for learning and teaching. So I've now used
it to learn about watercolours, to learn about composition in art, obviously to
learn about marketing and also video editing. Just all sorts of things. If you
are interested in checking them out, I will have a link below to a coupon code
where you can get two months of Premium Membership for 99 cents. I think it's
just for the first 500 people that click that link so if you are interested
please check it out now. Otherwise premium membership annually is $10 a
month which is really affordable, especially comparatively to similar
sites like this and overall I- you know, I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't really
believe in it so I would love you to check it out. I've loved hearing from you
guys which classes you've taken and things you've learnt as well. But
thank you Skillshare for sponsoring this video, thank you guys so much for
watching. If you have any other questions, anything else you want me to cover in a
video let me know! But for now I will see you in the next one! Bye!